Imports continue to dominate Nepal’s foreign trade

Kathmandu, Oct. 31

The country's foreign trade has decreased significantly during the first three months of the current fiscal year 2022/23.

According to the Department of Customs, foreign trade has decreased by 18.54 per cent to Rs. 442.81 billion during the first three months of the current fiscal year. Now the country faces a trade deficit of Rs. 359.17 billion. The improvement seen in the country's export trade for the past few years has started to decline again since the beginning of the current fiscal year 2022/23.

According to trade statistics of the Department of Customs, the country's export has declined by 35.71 per cent during the first three months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period of the last fiscal year 2021/22. Goods worth Rs. 41.82 billion have been exported in the first three months of the current fiscal year while they were worth Rs. 65.052 billion in the same period of last fiscal year. According to experts, the overall export trade of the country has declined over the months due to the decline in the export of soybean oil and palm oil which has been contributing significantly to export. Due to the ongoing Russia and Ukraine war, there was a problem in the supply chain of edible oil, including soybean oil, in the international market which affected the import of crude oil and export of refined oil in Nepal as well.

Soybean oil worth Rs. 3.16 billion has been exported during the first three months of the current fiscal year while it was Rs. 22.02 billion in the same period last fiscal year.

Palm oil worth Rs. 8.05 billion and sunflower worth Rs. 156 million have been exported during the review period. The country exported palm oil worth Rs. 13.51 billion and sunflower oil worth Rs. 1.82 billion during the first three months of the last fiscal year 2021/22.

Meanwhile, crude soybean oil worth Rs. 14.08 billion, crude palm oil worth Rs. 11.18 billion and sunflower oil worth Rs. 3.48 billion have been imported during the review period.

Imports have also decreased by 16.20 per cent during the first three months of the current fiscal year. However, imports were higher by manifolds than exports. Goods worth Rs. 400.99 billion were imported in the review period. The country imported goods worth Rs. 478.52 billion in the same period last fiscal year.

The import of petroleum products has increased significantly during the review period.

In the first three months of the current fiscal year, petrol worth Rs. 18.22 billion, diesel worth Rs. 29.29 billion, kerosene worth Rs. 315 million, aviation fuel worth Rs. 5.15 billion and liquefied petroleum gas worth Rs. 14.94 billion have been imported.

Meanwhile, maize worth Rs. 3.40 billion, paddy and rice worth Rs. 5.60 billion and wheat worth Rs. 48 million have been imported.